Gene Therapy

Gene Therapy Gene therapy is a medical approach that aims at counteracting the pathological effects of gene mutations that cause inherited disorders. A gene is a portion of DNA that contains the information that the cells need to produce a protein with a given function. If a gene is defective, the cells cannot produce the […]

Pharmacogenomics

Pharmacogenomics Pharmacogenomics arises from the merging of medical disciplines, pharmacology and molecular genetics, and studies the correlations existing between the genetic characteristics of patients and their response to pharmacological treatments. Hereditary factors can indeed make a great difference in how drugs are metabolized in the body, making the therapeutic response and the risk of serious […]

Optopharmacology

Optopharmacology Optopharmacology studies the possibility to employ photosensitive molecules known as photoswitches to reactivate responsiveness to light in the retinas of people who lost vision due to a degenerative retinal disease. Some retinal diseases, such as retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration, cause progressive death of rod and cone photoreceptors, causing the loss of the […]

Optogenetics

Optogenetics Optogenetics is an emerging biological technique that involves neurology, cell physiology, and gene therapy. This novel technique aims at rendering non-light sensitive cells responsive to light and represents a powerful tool to restore sight in people who lost their vision due to a degenerative retinal pathology. Many retinal degenerative processes, such as age-related macular […]

Stem Cells

Stem Cells Stem cells have unique features in that they are non-specialized cells that can duplicate indefinitely and potentially give rise to any type of cell in the body. For this reason, they represent a potential unlimited reservoir of cells that could restore tissues and replace cells that have been damaged by a pathology or […]

Predictive Medicine

Predictive Medicine Predictive medicine is a young branch of medical science based on the clinical significance associated to certain genetic variants (polymorphisms) present in the population, which may give rise to a higher risk of becoming affected by a given pathology. Predictive medicine can be applied in the field of multifactorial diseases, the trigger of […]

Cortical prostheses

Cortical prostheses rtificial vision is nowadays a fast-developing medical field able to restore a certain degree of vision functionality, and hence self-sufficiency, in selected patients who lost their vision in adult life. Vision starts when light coming from the surrounding environment hits the retina and photoreceptors transform it into electrical stimuli. The process is then […]

Retinal prostheses

Retinal prostheses Artificial vision is nowadays a fast-developing medical field able to restore a certain degree of vision functionality, and hence self-sufficiency, in selected patients who lost their vision in adult life. Vision starts when light coming from the surrounding environment hits the retina and photoreceptors transform it into electrical stimuli. The process is then […]